Back! To the future?
Since James Levine‘s back is flaring up again and he has canceled BSO performances through April 5, how about a group-mind experiment in predicting what the rest of the maestro’s Met season will be like?
La Cieca
James Jorden (who wrote under the names "La Cieca" and "Our Own JJ") was the founder and editor of parterre box. During his 20 year career as an opera critic he wrote for the New York Times, Opera, Gay City News, Opera Now, Musical America and the New York Post. He also raised his voice in punditry on National Public Radio. From time to time he directed opera, including three unsuccessful productions of Don Giovanni. He also contributed a regular column on opera for the New York Observer. James died in October 2023.
Happy Birthday Martha Mödl
The legendary Kunstdiva was born March 22, 1912.
Wolfgang Wagner 1919-2010
The grandson of Richard Wagner, chief of the Bayreuth Festival from 1951-2008 and director of a dozen productions, died Sunday. He was 90. [Monsters and Critics]
Ripped from the Regie
Oh, phooey! Barely 12 minutes separated La Cieca’s posting of the most recent Regie quiz and the correct guess by bassoprofundo. By the way, your doyenne’s current crush Stefan Herheim directed this production for Den Norske Opera. And now for a puzzler La Cieca hopes will be a bit more challenging!
Where eagles chat
Today’s Met broadcast is From the House of the Dead. Our habitual chat begins at 12:30 pm, and the details are after the jump.
Leg show
Today’s gossip riddle: what does the Met’s upcoming Mary Zimmerman production of Rossini’s Armida have in common with the above-referenced classic of cheesy 1950s science fiction?
Noblesse oblige
Angela Gheorghiu will sing Mimì at the Met’s last performance of Boheme this season tomorrow afternoon, replacing Anna Netrebko who is ill. Angie’s in town (already?) in preparation for her performances in La traviata beginning March 29.
There should be a new word for high definition
La Cieca has obtained a snippet of the Met’s upcoming HD simulcast of Thomas’ Hamlet. Do not reveal to anyone the source of this clip!
Botox Shortage Grips Denmark
The cher public are invited to suggest captions for this less than flattering photo by Sara Krulwich, which appeared originally in the New York Times.
The debut that got away
“After all that, it would be gratifying to declare Petersen’s debut a ‘star is born’ moment. But… she was pretty much a nonstarter, her Ophélie hovering on the cusp of inaudibility in midrange and shrill on the highest notes.” [NYP]
Ces lettres, ces lettres…
David Gockley has accepted Elina Garanca‘s withdrawal for “personal reasons” from San Francisco after discovering a “series of European concerts has been recently announced on Ms. Garanca’s website during the Werther performance schedule.” [La Cieca earlier reported this story as Gockley’s giving “the boot” to Garanca, which was not accurate.]
In endless waiting rooms
The wait is over, cher public, and your doyenne’s blue-ribbon panel has selected the perkiest procrastinator of the pack, jatm2063 for his account of a delayed encounter with Sylvia Sass. Congratulations, jatm!
The embonpoint to become a queen of song
Serious “opera singer” Katherine Jenkins says her greatest wish is to sing Carmen or Cherubino at La Scala.
The phantom of the opera-l
La Cieca (not pictured) has been asked to spread the word that the Opera-L list is down due to the power outages in New Jersey where it is hosted. The latest information is that it is hoped to be up sometime Wednesday. UPDATE: Opera-L is now operational again.
Von Kopf bis Fuss
La Cieca is delighted to begin a new series on parterre.com dedicated to the fretting, brooding and dithering of the Wazier of the Worriers, Anthony Tommasini. Our first examples (of many) follow the jump.
Birthday partita
Many happy returns to Antonietta Stella, who turned 81 today!
They had CVs then
La Cieca has decided she is going insert the the following line into her official biography (names and pronouns varied as necessary):
Ad “HOC” chat
Today’s Met broadcast is The Nose. Our habitual chat begins at 12:30 pm, and the details are after the jump.
So etwas geht selten gut aus
… as the saying goes. A German opera singer is accused of murdering her husband Hermann, then hiring a body double to sign over to her his properties, stocks, bonds, cash and life insurance policy. [The Telegraph]
The face that launched
She without whom La Cieca would not cast a shadow, Renée Fleming, has a newly revamped website!
Leave it to… Jane?
Per the Met’s press office, “Jane Archibald will make her Met debut as Ophélie in the Met’s new production of Thomas’s Hamlet, singing the role on April 5 and 9.”
Nag, nag, nag
La Cieca would like to give the cher public a little nudge in the way of a reminder that the procrastination competition will be closed at midnight tonight. So what are you waiting for? (Remember, only comments to the original posting will be considered!)
American to helm American opera company
As La Cieca indicated previously, Francesca Zambello (center) is going to add the notch of General and Artistic Director of Glimmerglass Opera to her already bulging belt. [NYT]
Trapped in the closet
La Cieca is informed that tomorrow’s final dress rehearsal of Hamlet is as closed as closed can be: covers, Met staff and a few handpicked guests of Peter Gelb are the only humans to be allowed in the auditorium as the Thomas is teched. It’s natural enough, since — as we all know — the […]